Promises Made of Blood
by Diary
Summary: Re-posted under different title. Kagura gains the upper hand on Sesshomaru, forcing him to ally with her. Complete.


Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

...

Looking down at her newfound treasure, Kagura grits her teeth. "Killing them is the only way," she mutters, pacing. "Damn! Unless I kill him, too, I know what the eventual consequences of that would be."

Kanna appears, and Kagura quickly stuffs her treasure in her kimono, not bothering to stop her monologue. "Surely, there's a way to trap and keep them imprisoned."

"Who do you wish imprisoned, Kagura?"

Not sparing a glance at the albino youkai, Kagura answers, absently, "Sesshomaru's ward and imp. He will be sorry he denied me!"

"Where do you wish their bodies hidden?"

Exasperated, Kagura stops pacing and glares at the older youkai. "Look, I don't want them dead. And even if I did, I don't see how that's any concern of Naraku's."

"I can imprison their souls within my mirror without killing them," Kanna replies, impassive as ever. "And I can store their bodies wherever you wish."

Pausing, Kagura looks suspiciously at her. Kanna looks back, her black eyes as smooth and flat as ever. "Why would you? You're loyal to Naraku."

"I am loyal to him and all his creations. If you order me to help you destroy him, I will refuse, but I will follow any other orders." She cocks her head. "Did you not know this?"

Actually, Kagura hadn't. Though, now that she thinks of it, she should have. Kanna is always doing something for his minions; Kagura had always thought that Naraku had ordered her to, but Kanna had never said that, had she? She always said, 'So-and-so ordered me to...'

"Curse that vile abomination!"

Of course, he'd never told her. Why would the bastard?

Once she's calmed down, Kagura turns back to the patiently waiting smaller youkai. "Are you going to ask why?"

"You said he would be sorry for denying you. I assume you believe that taking his companions away will be a worse punishment than simply killing or imprisoning him."

The wind sorceress considers everything for a long moment. She can't see how having Kanna do this would cause trouble, but she's not stupid enough to think that, just because she can't predict trouble, doesn't mean that trouble won't result. Still, with her newfound weapon inside her kimono, getting the child and snivelling toad temporarily out of the way is her best chance.

"Put them somewhere I can easily access but can't be found by the dog youkai. And make sure their bodies don't expire; I don't know how long I want to keep their souls imprisoned."

Kanna bows her head and disappears.

...

Why can't I just kill him after I get what I want?

The gods know he's no innocent, and I've killed the latter, before.

Sighing, Kagura lands and shrinks her feather, putting it back in her hair. She raises her hood and begins walking to the human village.

When the wind sorceress arrives at the hut of the town's head miko, she carefully brings her palm against the open doorway.

"As long as ye mean the villagers and me no harm, ye may enter," a low voice says, causing Kagura to jerk in surprise.

Walking inside, she sees the miko sitting in a nearby window. Her eyes are pure white and fixated on nothing. Blind, Kagura realises, wondering just how well-deserved her reputation really is.

"A wind youkai," the miko mutters, standing and walking over to Kagura. "I thought those extinct."

"I'm not exactly conventional," Kagura answers.

"Aye. Ye have evil in ye. Wind youkais could do great harm, but to find one tainted with evil was rare. Many, they liked to fly the Earth. As long as they and anyone they were fond of where left alone, they committed no harm."

"I wish to remove that taint."

Making a clucking sound, the miko walks over to a small table and pours a cup of tea, her finger dipped slightly inside of it. "To me, thy voice is sincere. If a being is truly penitent and leads a life of good, eventually, the soul will purify itself. But something is stopping ye from doing that."

"You've heard of Naraku, I presume?"

...

Kanna's waiting in the room Kagura often occupies in the castle. "Kagura, look," Kanna says, holding up her mirror.

The face of the child, and then, of the toad youkai both briefly appear in place of Kagura's own face. The first looks slightly confused but otherwise unbothered; the latter has a look of anger and fear.

"Come," Kanna says, lowering her mirror.

Opening a door to an adjourning room, Kanna points.

The first thing that Kagura notices is a very large, wide circle made by glowing blue rocks. Then, inside the circle, she sees the bodies.

"Only you and I can enter the circle," Kanna informs her. "As long as they stay within, their bodies will not age or require nutrients."

"Where exactly did you get rocks like this?"

"One of our human allies; a monk. In return for me stealing the souls of his enemies, he has made charms in the past for Naraku. I explained what I needed and showed him an image of you."

"He's not my ally," Kagura snaps. "Considering I didn't even know that Naraku still had living allies, least of all human ones. And you can sketch or paint?"

"No," Kanna answers.

At the younger youkai's annoyed look, she seems to realise more is required. "I will show you," she says, walking away from the door. "Stay for a moment while I get some paper."

Kanna disappears, and Kagura tentatively sets a foot over one of the rocks. When nothing happens, she steps into the circle and walks over to where the bodies lie, breathing but still seemingly dead. She removes the hair ornaments from the child's hair and picks up the toad youkai's staff. Then, she leaves the circle and exits the room, shutting the door.

The albino youkai reappears and sets a piece of paper down on the floor. Then, she points her mirror at it, and a perfect, coloured portrait of Naraku appears.

Kagura gasps and kneels down to examine it.

"Anyone I have seen, my mirror can duplicate their image on any solid surface."

"Yet another thing I knew nothing about," Kagura mutters. "I am starting to think my greatest enemy is not Naraku, but the ignorance he keeps me in."

"The ignorance is not his doing, Kagura," Kanna answers, voice toneless. "You have constantly either ignored or ranted at me rather than showing the slightest attempt to learn of me. I cannot determine what you do and do not know, or what information, aside from how to bring Naraku's defeat, you desire."

Sighing, Kagura stands. "Thank you, Kanna. I'll endeavour to treat you with more kindness in the future."

...

One of the apprentice mikos is a tall, thin girl with curly hair. She goes on and on about how all youkai should purged from the Earth.

In spite of the fact that her mistress is well known for helping almost any youkai that comes to her for help.

Kagura grits her teeth and doesn't respond.

The other apprentice is a plumb girl, quiet and shy, who looks in awe at Kagura's feather but claims her weight will cause it to fall when Kagura offers to let her ride.

"Get on, child," Kasumi, the blind miko orders, giving her a small push in the general direction of the feather. "Kagura-san may not look it, but I would wager she weighs more than thee. Sayu-chan, until ye can speak without hate tainting every word, be silent."

Kagura and the child fly close to the ground, while the miko and other child walk.

"Now, neither of ye are to approach him, even after the arrow is struck," Kasumi warns the girls. "Kagura-san can lead me to him."

"I still want to know how she really managed to lay her hands on an enchanted rosary," Sayu says, disdainfully. "To enchant a regular rosary with such powers cannot be done, and the knowledge of how to make a special rosary, one created by and infused with such powers, has been lost for hundreds of years; Kaede-sama is the last person known to possess one. And since that dog youkai who killed her sister still lives, he must still be bound by it."

Kagura rolls her eyes and somehow manages to restrain herself from blowing the brat into a nearby tree.

"Stop," Kasumi murmurs, digging her hand into Sayu's shoulder. Kagura halts her feather. "He's nearby."

"Ready thy bow, Mayumi-chan. Sayu-chan, do ye have the potion?"

"Yes, my lady."

...

Of course, it doesn't exactly go according to plan.

For one thing, Kagura hadn't told Kanna to do something about that two-headed dragon-type creature or taken care of it herself.

This turns out to be a problem because apparently the blasted thing is loyal.

Kagura, just for the record, hates loyalty. Much as she loathes Naraku to her very core, she does have to give him credit for realising what the whole world should have realised when creation first began: No one should loyal to anyone but themselves. And everyone should be brutally upfront about said fact.

So, the second problem is: The bloody loyal creature is also perceptive and begins to attack them before they can attack Sesshomaru.

Thankfully, however, the brat is actually good at something besides expressing her views on the acceptability of mass genocide and quickly jumps on the creature, finds its pressure points, and renders it unconscious.

The third and final problem: Sesshomaru is now staring at the three mikos, armed with bow and potions, one of which that just harmed his pet, and the wind sorceress, who just happens to have the hair ornaments and staff, which contain the scent of their owners on them.

Kagura is fairly sure that the plan of surprising the dog youkai with a binding arrow and slipping the beads on is now officially completely shot.

...

"Wind Sorceress Kagura," the dog youkai greets. "Why do I smell Rin and Jaken on you?"

Sighing, Kagura snaps out her fan and bows her head slightly, a decision made, though she can't pinpoint how or when she made it nor why. He'd either be her saviour, or her victim.

He withdraws his non-healing sword. "You truly are a fool."

The one good thing about being Naraku's property, she thinks, the revulsion causing a full body shudder, is that only he can kill me.

Hopefully.

Although, she thinks, a smile creeping onto her face, death is one sort of freedom. "At least, my reputation is well earned," she retorts. "I've heard so much about you; your power, your ruthlessness, your sheer greatness. But you have lost an arm, your half-human brother still lives, and you've taken a human, an action your father did that supposedly gained your disdain. All you've killed is humans, something even the weakest of youkais can do, and youkais of little importance. When it comes down to it, how great is this Sesshomaru, truly?"

He attacks, and she reacts, trying to scratch him.

At one point, she manages to kick him, and that gives her the upper hand, causing her to lunge.

They fall against a tree, and-

There's pain-

...

More pain, and suddenly, she's- Back alive?

"I apologise, Kagura-sama!" There's a voice.

"Hush, brave child. She'll be fine, and the dog youkai is now trapped."

Gradually, Kagura comes to.

The first thing she sees clearly is Sesshomaru, standing against a tree, an arrow binding his left ankle to it. His eyes are closed, and like his followers, he's breathing but otherwise seems to be dead.

"Ye are back, now."

"What happened?" Kagura sits up, groaning as her right shoulder moves, slightly.

Mayumi kneels, her head touching the grass. "I'm sorry!"

Shaking her head, Sayu pulls the other girl up. "You got the youkai pinned. So what if you temporary got the other one, too?"

"Mayumi-chan saw an opportunity and shot the arrow through thy shoulder when ye had the dog youkai pinned," Kasumi explains, sitting against a nearby tree. "After ye were both restrained, she shot one through his foot. Thanks to Sayu-chan, talented child, ye will recover quickly, properly, and fully. She, with great care and precision, removed the arrow."

Bowing her head, Kagura says, "I thank you both."

Reaching her arm out, Kasumi says, "When ye can stand, lead me to the dog youkai."

...

The first move Sesshomaru makes when he regains consciousness is to attack.

He automatically finds himself face-down on the ground.

"From the sound of it, I'd wager it worked."

Kagura takes a deep breath and briefly closes her eyes. She's killed, tortured, and kidnapped before, but she's never stooped to Naraku's level and magically made another into a slave.

"The rosary beads will never be removed unless I remove them," she tells the face-down lord. Tossing the ornaments and staff on the ground, she continues, "And I have your ward and servant, both alive but well restrained."

He sits up and starts to withdraw his non-healing sword (suicide, Kagura wonders, feeling vaguely sick), and she, with a simple feeling, a simple thought, has him pinned, again.

"I propose a deal. Our blood mixed together, with that of a miko's. I will promise to remove the beads and release the ward and servant unharmed once you help me destroy Naraku. You will promise to devote everything you have to helping me destroy him."

"Once the beads are gone and you have them back, you can try to kill me. You may or may not succeed."

...

Sesshomaru is stubborn, but eventually, he hisses, "So be it."

...

Kagura and Kasumi each cut their right hand and push the two bleeding wounds together.

Kasumi, then cuts her left hand, and Sesshomaru cuts his left. They push the two together.

Then, Kagura and Sesshomaru push their cut hands together. "May I be forever cursed if I do not keep my promise, sealed by blood. I, Kagura, mistress of wind, do promise that once I get my greatest desire, I will release you, your ward, and your servant, all unharmed."

"May I be forever cursed if I do not keep my promise, sealed by blood. I, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, do promise to devote all I have to helping destroy your master, Naraku."

She smiles instead of flinching at the taunt. "It is done."

"It is done."

The icy, angry look in his eyes does nothing to reassure Kagura. If there is any way for him to escape, he will, blood oath or not. And if he escapes, he will ensure she never knows happiness.

Still, this, in her mind, is the best chance she has. And she will take it. Better to have tried and failed than to have just cowardly accepted her fate.

...

Kanna looks down at the child and toad youkai. "Everything is about to change," she notes.


End file.
